Writing Music out: General Points Note Stems If on the middle line or higher the stem must go down

If on the middle line or lower the stem must go up Ties must be written from the notehead

Accidentals Must be written before the note head on the stave, and after in written descriptions. Key signatures For full marks, sharps and flats must be in the correct order and octave. Grouping Remember, in compound time the beat is a dotted crotchet In simple time the beat is a crotchet or minim

Key signatures Required for EVERY LINE. Time signatures required just for the first line. Sharps in Fives

Flats in Fours

Scales [MACK] Check: Major/Minor/Harmonic/Chromatic Ascending/descending Clef? Key signature?

Harmonic Minors: Raised 7th ascending and descending Melodic Minors: Raised 6th and 7th ascending,, back to normal descending Chromatic: Sharps ascending, flats descending Transposition [NICK] Notes? Write them out Interval? Clef? Key Signature?

Short Score to Open Score Soprano Alto Tenor Bass Copy soprano, alto and bass exactly, thinking about which way stems go. Then for tenor, - If you are going to short score, remember to transpose into the bass clef and put an octave down. - If you are going into open score, remember to transpose into treble clef and put an octave up.

Instruments of the Orchestra Two important points: Transposing instruments: Clarinet, trumpet, horn

Family

Instrument
Violin

Picture

Clef Transposing?
No

Viola

No

String

Cello

No

Double bass

8ve down

Flute

No

Oboe

No

Woodwind
Clarinet Yes (Bb/A)

Bassoon

No

Trumpet

Yes (Bb)

French horn

Yes (F)

Brass
Trombone No

Tuba

No

Tuned Percussion/Definite Pitch: xylophone, glockenspiel.

Percussion

Untuned percussion/indefinite pitch: snare drum, bass drum [highest] Soprano Alto Tenor Baritone Bass [lowest]

Voice

Time Signatures The lower number is the VALUE:

1=

Semibreve (rare)

2=

Minim

4=

Crotchet

8=

Quaver

16= Semiquaver

32= Demisemiquaver (rare)

The upper number tells you how many of those beats to count. Eg. 2/4 means 2 crotchets 2/2 means 2 minims 8/16 means 8 semiquavers Every time signature also has a technical name. You work out the technical name by looking at the upper number of the time signature. You will need to learn this table:
Duple Triple Quadruple Simple Compound
2 6 3 9 4 12

Eg. 2/4 is Simple Duple 6/8 is Compound Duple 12/16 is Compound Quadruple.